B drives me nuts but happens frequently with certain people on my team. One coworker just messages “Hi” and then nothing else. I have started to just not respond and she will either eventually message me what she needs or she never does and I guess it wasn’t really needed?
I was back at work (WFH) for the first time since Dec 15. Honestly I was ready to get back into a routine. I thrive on routine. Plus, the weather was so gross the whole time I was off so I was getting bored. I think I'm going to take a week off this summer for a staycation so I can actually go do fun stuff like hiking, going to the pool, etc. on my week off rather than run errands and sit around the house.
I also don’t set a reading goal. I like looking back on my year-end stats on Good Reads just out of curiosity and I find data like that interesting, but I don’t want reading to feel like a chore to me or get anxious about meeting a goal I set for myself.
I just borrowed Not So Perfect Strangers on Libby so that will likely be my first read of 2024.
Highs: I got a new position at work making way more money/better benefits; H got a promotion and raise at work; our vacation in the fall to the UP of Michigan; being able to put more money away in savings and retirement; completing some house projects
Lows: Our dog's struggle with arthritis and she is getting pretty old and I'm not ready for that; we didn't get to see my parents very much because they have been helping my grandma. But otherwise, nothing too bad.
Looking forward to: Hopefully a trip somewhere (maybe going back to CO), hopefully my parents moving down here when they retire this year, continued house projects and purchases
For your dog, have you heard about Librela? It's a new treatment for osteoarthritis that is showing good results.
Our vet was doing a call about it in the new year to get more info and see if it would interact with any of the meds our dog is on or if she would be a good candidate. I am hopeful!
Post by RoxMonster on Dec 31, 2023 18:34:11 GMT -5
Highs: I got a new position at work making way more money/better benefits; H got a promotion and raise at work; our vacation in the fall to the UP of Michigan; being able to put more money away in savings and retirement; completing some house projects
Lows: Our dog's struggle with arthritis and she is getting pretty old and I'm not ready for that; we didn't get to see my parents very much because they have been helping my grandma. But otherwise, nothing too bad.
Looking forward to: Hopefully a trip somewhere (maybe going back to CO), hopefully my parents moving down here when they retire this year, continued house projects and purchases
Post by RoxMonster on Dec 31, 2023 11:42:30 GMT -5
Taking down Christmas stuff today. We are making a bunch of apps plus a peanut butter pie for NYE on the couch tonight. Still deciding on a cocktail to make. I actually really enjoy our low key NYE and flipping back and forth between different New Years shows on TV.
Tomorrow we are supposed to get some sun so I’m hoping for a First Day Hike.
Post by RoxMonster on Dec 30, 2023 13:42:31 GMT -5
I agree with the super long nail confusion. Maybe those people don’t wear contacts? Because ouch. I don’t see how that works otherwise.
Another for me is cartoons for adults. Things like South Park, Family Guy, etc. I will also add that besides a few Disney movies, I also didn’t like watching cartoons as a kid either so maybe it’s just me lol. I hate cartoons.
Post by RoxMonster on Dec 29, 2023 10:38:14 GMT -5
So sick of the damp, slushy weather. I know it’s winter so I get that it will be cold but I hate this rain:snow drizzle going on since yesterday morning.
No huge plans today but maybe checking out a new coffee shop in town and then doing a holiday pop-up bar tonight. I’m hoping the weather cooperates enough tomorrow to take down the outdoor decorations and then inside probably comes down Sunday.
Post by RoxMonster on Dec 28, 2023 12:52:58 GMT -5
Regarding the meeting calendar, my team all has a “lunch block” we put on our calendars from 11:30-12:30 which I appreciate. You can still work if you want or move that time around but it’s generally accepted we don’t book meetings over that hour. Otherwise, if I have something where I know I can’t take a meeting or need the time to get something done, I block off my calendar.
I’m also hoping we can do a trip this year. With my dog’s arthritis, it gets harder to have my parents watch her. Plus my parents are retiring this year and planning to move to where we live so I’m unsure of the timing of that. But if we can get away, I’d love to do the CO trip I’ve been planning for awhile: Breckenridge, Aspen, and Crested Butte. Have been to CO three other times so have seen much of the rest of the state already. I love it there!
Post by RoxMonster on Dec 28, 2023 12:10:11 GMT -5
It’s our dog’s Gotcha Day and I am in my feels about having her for 11 years (she’s ~12.5 years old) since she is the light of my life but I’m also realistic about how long dogs live.
Getting my hair highlighted. It’s doing a slushy snow thing today which is yuck. Either tonight or tomorrow night we’re going to a pop-up holiday bar in town with festive drinks, a special food menu and pretty decorations.
Post by RoxMonster on Dec 26, 2023 16:55:38 GMT -5
We were furniture shopping for a new couch and definitely want to continue having recliners on both ends. At one store, a salesman was showing us one reclining couch and apropos of nothing said to me, “And don’t worry about this holding your legs up. My wife is also a large woman and it holds her up just fine.” I mean, I know I’m a fat person and it’s whatever. But I just feel uncomfortable with strangers mentioning people’s bodies regardless of what shape they are.
It would have been one thing if I asked, “Hey I’m heavier and worried about this holding my legs up” but I never mentioned that as it wasn’t even something I was concerned about. Idk it was just awkward and I didn’t really know how to respond so I said nothing.
Post by RoxMonster on Dec 25, 2023 13:32:49 GMT -5
My parents got us a Shark robot vacuum so we’re getting that set up. I was excited we got to name it in the app lol. Once it’s done charging, she’ll go on her maiden voyage 😂
This year just my dad is visiting us. My grandma just got out of the hospital with RSV, also just moved into an independent living facility and Christmas time is the anniversary of my grandpa's death so my mom wanted to stay and spend the holiday with her, which I totally understand. We are not able to travel that far in the car anymore with our arthritic dog, so my dad just came down here. It has been really nice; I still miss having my mom here. Hopefully next year when they retire they'll be able to all move down here and we can all be together at the holidays.
Right now, H is making breakfast (we do a huge brunch/breakfast for our Christmas meal) and I'm drinking coffee with a yule log on the TV. We'll open gifts after breakfast.
Post by RoxMonster on Dec 23, 2023 21:13:58 GMT -5
No solution but commiseration. I have dark brown hair. I started getting grays at 25 (as did my mom and my grandma so I knew it would happen). I go in every 6 weeks to get trim/root cover up/highlights. But the grays start showing at my part and temples after 4 weeks. I just let them show. I refuse to go more frequently than 6 weeks and also don't want to use box dye and potentially mess anything up.
ETA: One of the managers at work who is in her 40s has beautiful silver/gray long hair and it looks amazing on her. I am not against at one point just going with it and embracing the gray but I wish I could just jump from now to all my hair being gray. I think I'm going to hate the in-between as some of my hair is gray but some is still brown.
Post by RoxMonster on Dec 23, 2023 21:07:31 GMT -5
When H and I first heard "Old Town Road" on the radio, before we knew what the song was called, we thought the lyric was, "I'm going to take my horse to the hotel room" and were both super confused of why/what this was supposed to mean.
When I learned what the title of the song was, I let H know how wrong we had this lol.
Post by RoxMonster on Dec 21, 2023 17:31:49 GMT -5
I would graciously accept the gifts. While I don't give a gift to my boss, if I did spend the time to get him something and he refused it (barring some company rule that truly didn't allow it), it would make me feel pretty bad. For this year, I would probably try to get something quick and small in return, maybe a gift card to a coffee shop or something you know they like? Or take them out to lunch.
I really liked the previous suggestion upthread to bring something up next year around the holidays. Maybe in like mid-November next year, you could say to the whole team, "Hey I thought that this year instead of any exchange of gifts, we could do x instead (team lunch, what have you)."
H and I wanted to plan some things on our holiday time off to get out of the house and not just lounge around the whole time (nothing wrong with lounging around but I wfh most of the time so I feel a bit antsy to leave the house. I start hibernating once Dec hits lol).
We're being nerdy and taking a day trip to the IL State Capitol to do a tour today and then visiting the Abraham Lincoln Museum. It's supposed to be a pretty cool museum. I think I may have visited the state capitol on a field trip in 4th grade but don't remember it hardly at all and definitely didn't really appreciate it then. Last year at the holidays, we visited the NPS site of Lincoln's home and got the idea to do this next.
Post by RoxMonster on Dec 19, 2023 18:00:38 GMT -5
I've never tracked my time but it would be interesting to do. I pretty much hibernate most of the winter because I hate the cold, but we do take the dog for a walk daily and if it's mild enough outside, we'll hike/walk on the weekends. However, I think my spring/summer/early fall would maybe make up for it. I LOVE being outside in the summer, even if just in my own backyard/patio. Many summer evenings, we sit outside for 2+ hours listening to music, reading, and chatting. Plus the other outdoor time sprinkled throughout the day. So I may be able to hit 1000 due to the warm weather months.
Post by RoxMonster on Dec 18, 2023 16:38:43 GMT -5
I'm shocked both at the parent(s) who reported this via the app and that the principal addressed what seems like a personnel matter in an email to parents. They should have just addressed it privately with the teacher and given him a heads up that you can't smoke on school grounds. End of story. It didn't have to be a whole deal.
Honestly, if I was that teacher, I would have been more mad at the principal putting me on blast like that and seemingly giving in to these obnoxious parents than just the parent reporting me. They did not have to address it in a public email like that. They could have told the parent, "Thanks for letting me know. I will take care of it" and then privately spoken to me as the teacher.
Post by RoxMonster on Dec 15, 2023 10:14:19 GMT -5
I am just working until noon today and then I am off work until Jan 2. I don’t really have anything I need to do this morning and many on my team including my boss are already off for the holidays so I’m doing a lot of nothing. I am looking forward to the time off but it’s also nice to not be DRAGGING myself to break and in such desperate need of it like when I was teaching. Thinking of all you teachers this time of year ❤️
I think this afternoon I’ll go to the local bakery and pick out an assortment of Christmas cookies. I talked H into just buying them rather than baking them.